


Poking Fun

by DaharMaster



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Gen, Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3430829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaharMaster/pseuds/DaharMaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short drabble I wrote to cheer up a friend about Sisko and Dax (Jadzia) playing poker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poking Fun

“Come on, old man,” Benjamin laughed, “I can’t believe you’ve never played poker.”

“Actually,” Jadzia replied, “I think you and Curzon played it once, but he was so drunk all I can remember is him throwing the cards everywhere.” Benjamin smiled and nodded.

“Now I remember,” he chuckled, sipping his synthehol beer, “The Vulcan embassy, on Risa.” Jadzia only shrugged, her eyes carefully watching Benjamin’s hands as he shuffled the deck of cards. He was surprisingly good at it, too.

“It’s somewhat like tongo, but it’s just the cards,” Benjamin was explaining, “There’s a lot of variations, but we’ll be playing Andorian Blind Matron. The aim of the game is to get a better hand than your opponent. Here’s a list of the rankings.” He slid a PADD across the metal table to her and she began to study it. Small images of card combinations were labeled with various names and ranks.

“Each round you can call, bet, fold, or raise,” Sisko said, handing her three cards face down and giving himself the same, “You can also choose to swap any number of cards for the same number of new ones. Follow?” Jadzia nodded, taking a sip of her Cardassian sunrise. As usual, Quark had made it too sweet.

Hesitantly, she looked at her cards. She had a nine of hearts, a nine of diamonds, and a seven of clubs. She placed a slip of latinum in the center of the table and glanced at Benjamin’s face. He was carefully studying his cards, his expression impassive and unreadable as ever. Still, she noticed the slight creasing around his left eye, and the hint of a smile near the corners of his mouth. He had a good hand.

“I’ll see your bet,” he said in his deep baritone voice, placing his own slip of latinum alongside hers. Silently, he dealt them each another card. Hers was a jack of clubs. She placed it back on the table and tapped the back of the card with a long slender finger. Sisko didn’t miss a beat placing the card in the discard pile and handing her another. A four of hearts, this time.

This was still no good, but Jadzia Dax was not a quitter. She was the only one to ever make it back into the good graces of the Symbiosis Commission after being washed out. She placed another strip of latinum on the table and carefully gauged Sisko’s reaction. His face revealed nothing. He met her bet and began dealing another round of cards when Quark appeared. After all, they were in his establishment, it was only a matter of time before the Ferengi showed up to make yet another pass at Dax.

“What’re you playing?” he asked, holding a tray of fresh drinks for a nearby table.

“Poker,” Benjamin answered briskly.

“Ah,” Quark nodded, “That hu-man game.”

“You know it?” Sisko asked, raising one thick eyebrow. Quark shrugged.

“Some people collect desiccated remains, I collect gambling games,” he said, then paused, “You know, that rhymed. I might make that the bar’s slogan.” And with that, he wandered off, lost in his own greedy thoughts. Jadzia couldn’t help but smile. She glanced at her new card; a four of diamonds. Already she had two pair, which was better than nothing.


End file.
